The Esky Music Awards 2006

Esquire


Dave & Taylor with their awards BEST DRUMMER: Taylor Hawkins

BEST ENTERTAINER: Dave Grohl

"This is quite a moment for me. I'd like to think that I've finally graduated to the great heights of Charlie Chaplin, Billy Crystal and Dave Chappelle. I don't fucking know about entertaining. I get drunk and play rock'n'roll. It's what I do. I have the greatest job in the world. You might have well have given this to a porn star."

ESQ: What's your onstage philosophy?
"Imagine having a keg party and inviting eight thousand of your best friends. You have to make sure everything is right — the grills hot, the tap is working. No foam. And as the host, you have to do shots with everyone in the room. It's your responsibility to make sure everyone goes home throwing up chicken all over their fucking bathrooms. That's basically the story of my life."

ESQ: Could you do this job sober?
"You can. I do interviews sober. Everything else is better wasted."

ESQ: At last years Esky Awards, Slash told us his most memorable awards show was the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, when Nirvana and Guns N'Roses squared off backstage.
"I remember that when Nevermind first came out, Axl was a really big fan of us. Guns N'Roses was about to do this massive stadium tour with Metallica, and they wanted us to open. So Axl had been calling Kurt non-stop. One day we're walking through an airport and Kurt says, "Fuck. Axl Rose won't stop calling me." I think it represented something bigger. Nirvana didn't want to turn into Guns N'Roses. So Kurt started talking shit in interviews and then Axl started talking back. It went back and forth like tenth-grade bullshit. Then we got to the awards and our trailers were all in the same one hundred yards. And Courtney was there, which never makes anything easier. So it didn't take much to blow up into a full-fleged showdown. Kurt and Courtney were screaming at Axl. Axl screamed back. It was all just soap-opera bullshit. Krist, our bass player, almost got in a fistfight. I was just the drummer, so I shouted some loud, funny shit and hit the bar."